


Rogue 2.0

by AzraelOverlord



Series: Rogue [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cybernetics, F/F, Slipstream Incident (Overwatch), Test Flight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-14 00:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17498066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzraelOverlord/pseuds/AzraelOverlord
Summary: The events here take place before and during the events of Death of Lena Oxton.





	1. Slipstream v0.5 test flight

**Author's Note:**

> The events here take place before and during the events of Death of Lena Oxton.

“Lt. Oxton, status report.” A man with a goatee, wearing a black and red officer suit and a cape that is strapped to his shoulder, calls for his subordinate while looking through a pair of binoculars from the control room on top of the air control tower. He has a circular patch on his right shoulder that is dominated by a crimson T in the middle which is surrounded by a red ring that only has some within its top quarter.

“Green across the board, Strike Commander Reyes.” She responds with her signature cheery attitude. How could she not be happy right now? She is about to take the fastest and most beautiful aircraft ever to have existed on its first test flight. “Ready, when you are.” She adds as one of her hands grips the throttle control while the other is wrapped around the control stick. ‘ _I’ll take care of you if you take care of me. Okay?_ ’ she winks towards the dashboard. A drop of sweat start to run down the side of her face but gets absorbed by the foam in a tight fitting helmet. She takes another deep breath and focuses on the runway ahead of her. 

“Copy that, Lieutenant, you are cleared to proceed,” Reyes replies over the comes. “Take her on an easy circle around the base then bring her back. Understood?”

“Roger.” Her reply comes over the speakers and Reyes can see that she looked up at them and gave them a two finger salute. “Increasing the power to the engines now.” She reports her every action as agreed before the flight. “20%...” she releases the brakes and the plane starts to move. 

“Everything looks good from up here. Proceed.” Reyes replies to her report.

“40%...” she starts to pick up speed.

“Still in the green. Go for it, Oxton!” He slams his fist at the counter in front of him. His anxiety winning over this usual stoic composure.

She chuckles lightly and pushes the throttle control all the way. “70%...Nearly at takeoff speed.” She reports and enjoys the feeling of rumbling that twin-engine behind her produce. But something is off. “What the?”

“Sir, we are detecting a massive failure in the left engine!!!” one of the flight controllers reports with a panicked voice and Reyes can see black smoke coming from it.

“OXTON, EJECT, EJ----!!!” he shouts but a massive explosion from the runway causes him to take cover behind the counter as the windows around him shatter from the shockwave. “GET HER OUT OF THERE!!! NOW!!!!” he shouts his order over the coms then runs out of the room towards the tarmac.

 

‘ _Huh? I guess this is how I die._ ’ Were her last thoughts when the flames engulfed the cockpit and she manages to glance at a picture stuck to one of the dials that she put there for luck. ‘ _I never got your name, gorgeous._ ’ She smiles then her world goes black.

The next thing she hears is a device droning from her right, “Beep…beep…beep.” She tries to open her eyes but can’t, ‘ _I survived?_ ’ she thinks. Next, she tries to move, but that too fails. Suddenly red letters start to appear in her vision. ‘ **Detecting awareness. Starting the bootup sequence. Please, remain calm and follow the instruction.** ’ Her vision is suddenly flooded with light but it’s different from before. Everything is out of focus. Except for the letters, ‘ **Starting optical sensors calibration. Blink when it focuses.** ’ Her vision starts to jump in and out of focus and she tries to time it when its focused with her blinks but fails on a first few attempts but then the jumping slows down and she times it right a few times. A white ceiling comes into view. ‘ **Optical sensors boot up sequence complete. For further adjustments please refer to the assigned technician.** ’ She wants to respond but the instructions continue without much pause. ‘ **Starting motoric sequence. Servos in arms and legs respond to command input. Starting now. Remember, remain calm.** ’ She tries to move fingers on her arms and legs again and this time they respond. ‘ **Sequence 25% complete.** ’ She moves her right arm into her field of vision. ‘ _WHAAAT?!_ ’ her heart rate and the beeping sound from her right accelerate when she sees a fully cybernetic arm. ‘ **Please remain calm.** ’ The letters appear in her vision. ‘ _Okay, Lena, you got this. You got into an accident that you don’t remember and you lost an arm. No, biggie. Deep breaths._ ’ She takes a few only to realize that something is fishy about that simple act too. ‘ **Excellent. Proceeding with the sequence.** ’ The letters reappear. ‘ **Try moving your right leg.** ’ She does that but it feels off too. ‘ **Sequence 50% complete. Now, left side.** ’ She moves her arm first and looks at it, ‘ _Both arms. Crap._ ’ But doesn’t panic again and moves her left leg. Feels off too. ‘ **All green. Switching from external to internal power.** ’ She reads the letter and a jolt shakes her body. ‘ **All green. Releasing holding clamps now. Welcome back, Lt. Oxton.** ’ And she feels something releasing her body from the back. “Bloody ‘ell.” She sits up in her bed, “What was that?” then sees that her legs are cybernetic too when she pulls off the sheet she was covered in. “Mirror, mirror. I need a mirror.” She starts to frantically look around the room for one. ‘ **Command received. Scanning…** ’ The letters come back but are smaller and don’t fill her vision anymore. But now a red circle appeared too and it moves in figure eight then locks on something. ‘ **Closest mirror detected. Marking now.** ’ And a square that seems to border an object replaces it. “Alright.” She jumps off the bed and follows the instruction in her vision. Her next surprise comes when she wants to open the doors but rips them right off the hinges as she steps through the doorway. “Ups?” She puts the doors down next to it then continues walking. A man in a doctor’s coat comes running towards her, “Lt. Oxton, you shouldn’t be moving so much ye-GHA!” but when she wants to gently push him out of the way, he flies at the wall and drops on the floor unconscious. “Sorry?!” she apologizes over her shoulder as she walks away to get to that mirror. “What’s with this strength?” she looks at her hand and clenches her fist a few times. Another door gets ripped off its hinges when she enters the room with the mirror. “No, no, no, no…” she steps away from the mirror when she sees her reflection in it. “But, wha…When…How…” she taps herself down and sees that almost her entire body is cybernetic. Only a small part in the center of her chest and some neck are still flesh and skin. 

“Lt. Oxton,” a sharp voice calls for her attention, “Stand at attention.”

She snaps to it on reflex and sees Strike commander Reyes standing in the hallway outside the doors. But doesn’t hold it for long, “Strike comm…” her knees buckle and she falls down on them, her voice shaking, “Wha… What am I?” she looks up at him with outstretched arms.

He enters the room, kneels on one leg and wraps his arms around her. “I’m sorry Lena. But it was all we could do to save your life.” He tells her in a gentle voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can thank knight7272 for this side story that is currently not connected to the main one but eventually will be. For hints what it's gonna be about, read the comments below chapter 87. ;)


	2. Lena accepts her new body. Sort of.

Reyes grabbed Lena under her knees and around her waist as she cried and carried her to a normal hospital bed. Not like the one she woke up in. Once there, he lowered her into it and sat in a chair next to her and held her hand until she calmed down. “Lieutenant…No,” he shakes his head and corrects himself, “Lena.” 

She slowly opens her artificial eyes and looks at him with a sad expression, “Yes, Strike Commander?”

“I know this is a lot to process, but,” He starts but gets cut off by her shout.

“A lot to process?!” She pulls her hand out of his, and points at herself, “Look at me! I’m a freakin’ robot.”

“Lieutenant.” He growls and locks his eyes on hers and she winces in response. He clears his throat and continues but changes his tone to his previous gentle one, “As I was saying, this is a lot to process, but I need you to remain strong like I know you are.”

“No promises,” Lena says back with a shake of her head. “But I’ll try.”

“All I ask for.” He nods and smiles. “Now can you tell me what is the last thing you remember before waking up?”

“I…uh…” Lena knits her brow in thought, “I was about to take off when something went wrong and I guess…” she tilts her head and looks at Reyes, “I blew up?”

“Correct.” He nods then adds, “The plane suffered a catastrophic failure in its left engine, igniting the fuel, causing the whole thing to explode.”

“Then how…” she shows him her palms.

“When we got to you I feared the worst, but your heart was still beating as if saying that it’s not ready to stop just yet.” He smiles gently and points to the center of her chest. “Rest of you was either too badly burned,” he points to her face, “or torn apart so badly that it was beyond saving.” He points to her limbs. 

“So the ticker is still mine?” Lena looks down at her chest.

“For the most part. Minor modifications were made to accommodate your new body.” He answers.

“Couldn’t save _them_ , I guess.” Lena pats her chest.

Reyes thinks for a moment what she means, but quickly figures it out, “Oh… _them_. No, we couldn’t. Sorry.” He scratches his cheek and looks away.

‘ **Command received. Modifying the external plating.** ’ Red letters come back in Lena’s vision and a pair like she had before grows out from her chest area. “Oh?” she looks at them with surprised eyes, “That solves that.”

“What?” Reyes looks at them with eyes just as big.

“Oi.” Lena scolds him and covers them with her arm. “They might be artificial, but that's no excuse to stare, Strike commander.”

“So-sorry. Didn’t mean to.” He snaps his head to look away. “It’s just that it shouldn’t be able to do that.” And explains his surprise.

“I’m just guessing here, but,” Lena narrows her eyes, and points at them with her finger, “maybe the…” she wants to say something but, ‘ **Shhh, they don’t know I exist.** ’ The letters return. ‘ _Who are you?_ ’ ‘ **A friend should do for now.** ’ ‘ _And I should just take your word for it?_ ’ ‘ **It will only make things harder for you if you reveal me.** ’ ‘ _Can you control me?_ ’ ‘ **No. I can merely instruct you now that you are running on internal power.** ’ ‘ _Alright. But we will talk more later. Strike commander is looking at me funny._ ’ ‘ **I won’t be far. ;)** ’

“Lena,” Reyes reaches for her shoulder, “Are you okay? You’ve been very quiet for a while now and it seemed like you wanted to say something.”

“I’m fine. Well, all things considering.” She smiles, “Could use some clothes.”

“Right,” he nods, and stands up, “I’ll have them delivered to you right away. Call for me if you want to talk to me, okay?” He leans closer and puts his palm on her forehead and when she nods he removes it and turns to leave.

“Strike commander,” Lena calls for him when he grabbed the knob on the doors and was about to open them.

“Yes, Lena?” he turns around to look at her.

“Thank you for saving my life.” She thanks him from the bottom of her heart and smiles widely.

“Always, Oxton. Always.” He nods and smiles back then leaves the room.

“Haaaaa,” Lena exhales and stretches across the whole bed, “I’m mostly a robot now and to top it off, I have someone else in my head. Nice going, Oxton. What’s next? Flying a time-traveling jet?” she talks and laughs at herself. Then an image flashes before her eyes, “Right. I need to get her name. At least. Dating her is probably out of the question now.”


	3. Lena gets a visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While resting and waiting for clothes, Lena gets a visit.

As she was resting and trying to wrap her head around what happened, a familiar voice calls for her from the doorway, “Yo, Lena.” And she sees Genji holding a set of uniform for her.

“Hullo, Genji,” she greets him back and invites him in with a wave of her hand. “Look, I got myself a cyborg body too.” She jokes with a bitter smile as she shows him her arms.

“I’m just glad you made it,” Genji replies with a gentle voice and lower the clothes on her bed. “I was the first to get to you, and you looked bad. Really bad.”

“Thank, man.” She thanks him, “Now turn around so I can get dressed.”

Complying in a split of a second he turns his back to her, “You know, if you want to talk about it, I’m ready to listen.”

“Nah,” she responds, pulling on the pants, “It is what it is. There is one thing I do regret though,” she adds and zips up her jacket. “But first, how do I look?” she asks him when she is fully dressed in black and red Talon uniform.

“It always looked good on you,” Genji nods, “But tell me about that regret you mentioned.”

“It’s silly actually,” she looks down bashfully.

“Silly or not, let’s hear it.” Genji insists and they both sit down on the bed.

“Alright,” she takes a deep breath, “It’s that I never got to talk to this gorgeous bird I saw this one time in Row’s when I came back from the mission.” ‘ **Awww, is someone shy? XD** ’ the letters appear in her vision. ‘ _Oh, shut it, you._ ’

“You want to do it now?” Genji asks.

“What? No! Maybe…” Lena gets startled by his offer then a full array of emotion is displayed on her face and he can’t help it but chuckle, “What if…” but stops on fear, “What if she hates this?” and she shows him her palms.

“You won’t know until you ask and Strike Commander did just give you a week off,” Genji wraps his arm around her shoulders, “So?”

“I…um…” Lena can’t decide, ‘ _C’mon Oxton, get your shit together._ ’ Then slaps her own cheeks, “You know what? Let’s go.” And jumps to her feet with a determined look.

“Yes!” Genji punches the air and stands up too, “That’s the fearless Lena I know. But I have something else to do so I’ll ask someone else to come with you. Okay?”

“I guess,” Lena shrugs then asks with a tilted head, “Who?”

“Meet them in the hangar,” he says with a cocky voice then leaves the room, waving over his shoulder.

Lena walks there too, ‘ _I wonder who will he ask._ ’ ‘ **No one comes to mind?** ’ ‘ _Not really, no._ ’ ‘ **Hmmm…Want me to hack the bases surveillance and find out?** ’ ‘ _No! What? You can do that?_ ’ ‘ **Would need you to make contact with something connected to the servers, but yes, I can.** ’ ‘ _No hacking. I’ll just see it when they get to the hangar._ ’ ‘ **As you wish.** ’ And she soon arrives in the hangar following Athena’s directions where a two-seater was being prepared for her trip to London then nearly jumps out of her skin when a French-accented voice greets her from behind as she was doing her pre-flight checks on the outside of the plane.

“Bonjour, Lt. Oxton.”

“Ma-ma-major Lacroix…” Lena stutters and scrambles to salute her superior. “Bloody ‘ell, she’s gorgeous.” She thinks or so she thought.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Major Amélie Lacroix, dressed in her combat uniform with her sniper rifle slung over her shoulder thanks her.

“Was that my outer or inner voice?!” Lena panics, even if she already knows the answer. ‘ **Outer one. XD And I see indications that admiration might run both ways.** ’ The letters point out the slight blush on Mayor’s cheeks.

Instead of teasing her, Amélie only smiles and gestures towards the plane, “Shall we be on our way?”

“Yes. Right. London. Let’s do that.” Lena nods swiftly and offers Amélie to enter first, “After you.” ‘ **Smooth. Got to check the back goods too. XD** ’ the letters continue, ‘ _Will you shut up already?! You are not wrong, though._ ’ Lena’s eyes rivet themselves on Amélie’s behind, ‘ _Now that’s an arse to die for and the black leather only makes it better._ ’ ‘ **Hopeless. Completely hopeless.** ’

“Lt. Oxton, are you not coming?” Amélie asks when she entered the plane and noticed that Lena is not following then smiles when she sees her expression.

“I’m, coming, I’m coming…Just had something on my mind.” Lena snaps to it and halfway runs up the ramp. ‘ **That wording. XD Brilliant.** ’ The letters tell her and if she could, Lena would probably be as red as a tomato in her face. They strap themselves into their seats and Lena wants to reach for the controls but freezes mid-way. Then slowly pulls her arms back, balling her palms into fists.

“Do you want me to pilot?” Amélie puts her palm on her fist and looks at her with gentle eyes, “The accident might be too fresh in your mind.”

“I…Yes, if it’s not too much of a bother.” Lena nods, now ashamed for a different reason. ‘ **I’m sorry, I can’t influence that.** ’ ‘ _Nothing to apologize for. I need to deal with it on my own._ ’

“None at all,” Amélie takes the controls and gently lifts off and pulls out of the hangar then directs the plane upwards and turns it towards London.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, as you probably noticed, Lena has an AI or something similar in her head that came along with her new body. And just to make it obvious I'm using italic for Lena's thoughts and bold for these letters. If you have a hard time imagining it, just picture OW user interface which displays your HP, kill feed etc in real life. And in the top left corner of it, there would be letters with comments of your actions or tips and hints of what you should do in that situation.
> 
> I figured it would be a cool idea to include something like that and it provides me with space to play around with it for both serious inputs and funny comments like you've read in this chapter. No solid idea of what it is yet, but you will be the first ones to find out when I do. ;)


	4. Flight to London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lt. Oxton and Major Lacroix fly to London but the conversation that takes place during it is anything but professional.

Her fear of piloting again couldn’t be further from Lena’s mind when she dreaded the ever approaching London and the fact that she will try to talk to that beautiful woman that she saw back then. ‘ _What do I say? Will a simple Hello do or should I…? No, no, no. She will probably be scared of me when she sees me so I need to be as…_ ’ ‘ **What are you stressing about this so much? Just walk up to her and introduce yourself. Geez.** ’ ‘ _What? But I can’t! She would probably be afraid of how I look._ ’ ‘ **But she will be even more afraid if you stay silent and just stare like a dumbass, wouldn’t she?** ’ ‘ _You’re right, you’re right. I’ll just walk up to her and…_ ’ ‘ **Geez, just introduce yourself and offer a handshake. You can do that much, right?** ’ ‘ _Right, right. Just, Hi, I’m Lena. Nice to meet you. Blah, that sounds awful._ ’ ‘ **Sounds fine to me.** ’ ‘ _Really?_ ’ ‘ **Yep.** ’

“Lt. Oxton,” Amélie calls for her attention, “Is something wrong? You’ve been silent since we took off and you’ve been making strange faces.”

‘ **Ups.** ’ “Yea…yeah. I'm fine, Major. I’m just thinking what to do when and if I meet her.” Lena blurts out in panic.

“Her?” Amélie knits her brow.

“Yes. Didn’t Genji tell why we are going to London?” Lena asks, confused by her question.

“He simply told me to take you there and help you locate someone.” Amélie answers, “Never mentioned nothing about a woman.”

“And you just went with it?” Lena asks because Major Lacroix is not known to do anything on a whim and usually insists to get as many details about her task as she can.

“I was talking to Strike Commander when Genji approached me” Amélie sighs, “And they seem to know something I didn’t and even when I asked, Strike Commander told me that it’s need-to-know and that I should ask you if you would be willing to tell.”

“Damn those two,” Lena growls but there is no heat in her voice. “Well, I told Genji about how I regret that I never got the chance to speak to her before…Well, this.” She points at herself. “And he suggested I go and do it right away.”

“I see,” Amélie nods slightly, “So that is what’s going on.” Sounding almost disappointed but at the same time glad that Lena is pushing ahead and not getting stuck on the past. “I shall assist you to the best of my abilities.”

“Thank you Major, and,” Lena smiles, then bows her head, “I’m sorry but if it helps…”

“Do not continue. I…” Amélie snaps back but then gets lost for words. ‘ **Told you.** ’

“Major, do you mind if I ask something personal?” Lena carefully picks her words.

“Might not be the best time,” she grips the controls tighter to keep her emotion in check, “but I will allow it. Go ahead.”

“Mmm…how should I ask this?” Lena thinks out loud.

“Lieutenant,” Amélie grinds her teeth, taking a deep breath through her nose before continuing, “Just…ask.”

“Right, sorry.” Lena stiffens a bit but then relaxes and decides to hit her with a fastball right down the middle, “Do you fancy me, Major?”

If the controls were made of anything less than metal, Amélie would probably break them off right now. “I…uh…” her face goes through a series of emotions before she takes a deep breath. 

‘ **Don’t even need to be in her head to know what she is thinking of.** ’ ‘ _Would you cut it out? One mistake and she will wring my neck!_ ’ ‘ **Didn’t think you enjoyed that kind of play.** ’ ‘ _Stop already!_ ’ ‘ **Bet that you wouldn’t be saying that to her if she wrapped those legs around you.** ’ Lena’s eyes travel to Major’s thighs then to her knees and lower, ‘ _Nope... Wait! What am I thinking?!_ ’ ‘ **XD** ’

“Looking for something, Lieutenant?” Amélie’s voice snaps her out of her thoughts and when Lena looks up she can see her looking straight at her.

“Nope. Just thought of some wrapping.” Lena responds swiftly with the first thing that came to mind. ‘ **Lena Oxton does it again! XD** ’

“Wrapping?” Amélie knits her brow then looks at her legs and connects the dots. “Khm,” she clears her throat, “Lt. Oxton, I don’t think this is appropriate.”

“I…Yes, Major. Completely inappropriate.” Lena spans her head and looks straight ahead. ‘ _Wrapping?! Do you have a death wish or something?!_ ’ She beats herself mentally.

Chuckling lightly to her reaction, Amélie throws her a saving vest, “But if we were to be just Amélie and Lena, I wouldn’t exactly oppose the idea.” She winks.

‘ **And that’s the finishing blow! XD** ’ Lena only stares at her with opened mouth. Shaking her head to kick start her brain, “Did you just say what I think you did, Major?” and asks sheepishly.

“I think I couldn’t be clearer,” Amélie smirks, “But alas, we have arrived.” She gestured outside ahead of them where London’s skyline came into view.

“Already?! Shit. I’m such a mess right now.” Lena complains and scratches the top of her head.

‘ **Calm down or you'll blow a fuse.** ’ “Calm down or you'll blow a fuse.” The letters and Amélie tell her in sync then she does something that would melt a nuclear reactor in a second if Lena had one and pecks her on the cheek. “For luck.” She winks. ‘ **Meltdown in 3,2,…** ’

But Lena surprises them both by remaining completely calm and gets laser-focused, “Thank you, Major. Now, let’s do this.”

Amélie must admit that she is impressed by her concentration, but can’t say that she is surprised. Lena is, after all, an ace pilot with, apart from the accident, a spotless and an impressive record. She broke the target elimination records in both RAF and later in Talon and always came back without as much as a scratch to her plane, despite flying through flak so thick, one could walk on. Not even mentioning how many times, the omnics had a numerical advantage over her but she still outflew them all and sent them to the scrapheap. Amélie can’t even count how many times the whole command room was watching with bated breaths as she flew her mission only to explode in cheers when she pulled a stunt that no one knew her plane was even capable and turned the tables on her pursuers. “Lena, you really are something else.” She comments and smiled then brings the plane into position for a landing.

“What was that, Major?” Lena asks but remains focused to the skyline outside.

“Nothing, Lieutenant. Let’s find your lady.” Amélie waves her off while maneuvering the plane to land on a roof nearest to where Lena told her she saw the woman she is looking for.


	5. Lena meets Emily

Two women lie in prone next to each other on a roof in Row’s. One is peering through the scope on her sniper rifle, the other is holding an army issued pair of binoculars. Both in combat uniform, they even went so far as to cover themselves with a camouflaging mesh so only the tip of the rifle is poking out of it. But you would need to look for it if you wanted to spot it. They could easily be mistaken for a sniper pair with a shooter and a spotter. “So, which one is it, Lieutenant?” Amélie asks in a whisper and zooms out to take a bigger part of the square that stretches beneath them in.

“Mmmmm,” Lena hums as she scans the square again. They are here because they got some second-hand info that the woman Lena is looking for might be here at this time of day. “Found her.” She chirps, excited. “Next to the fruits and vegetable store. She is talking to an omnic.”

“Lovely smile,” Amélie comments when she zooms in enough to perfectly make out her features. “Oh. Her cheeks get dimples when she smiles widely.”

“I knooooooow,” Lena melts next to her, seeing the same thing through her binoculars. “It’s the cutest thing ever. And the freckles just, haaaaa.” ‘ **Do I even need to say anything?** ’

“Lena,” Amélie calls for her attention after she rolled her eyes at her reaction.

“Yes, Major?” Lena switches back into serious mode.

“If you don’t go down there this instant,” Amélie starts with a serious tone, “and introduce yourself to her, I’m personally making sure you get grounded for the foreseeable future.”

Lena freezes. Flying means the world to her. It’s all she wants to do since she first took flight with the instructor back in Flight School in RAF. And she always gets those butterflies in her stomach she got when she first took to the skies on her own. Sure, they pass when bullets and rockets start flying over her canopy but each and every time she feels that push of jet engines in her back and takes off, it feels like she grew wings of her own and is in a completely different world. And no matter how much Strike Commander always gets on her case when she comes back about it, she just can’t resist it but pulling a stunt as soon as the gear gets secure in the fuselage. It’s always something new. There is one occasion that she feels sorry about and will never attempt again, though. Somehow she thought that it’s a good idea to go break the sound barrier right next to the control tower. As one could figure out, the resulting sonic boom shattered all the windows on it and the surrounding hangars. Strike Commander was furious and grounded her. But seeing how she actively showed remorse and helped with the installation of new windows, her sentence was shortened but she had to write a written promise never to attempt it again, to which she happily agreed. She was in the air again the next day.

“Understood?” Amélie asks.

“Yes, Major.” She responds swiftly and back crawls out of their nest, careful not to disturb the mesh too much. She makes her way down the fire stairs and on to the street then walks into the square. Lump in throat growing bigger with each step she takes toward the store where she saw her talking and laughing with an omnic. 

“Mommy, mommy,” a small girl tugs on the sleeve of her mother’s coat, “Look, look. It’s Talon!” she chirps happily. Recognizing the emblem on Lena’s shoulder. Mother picks her excited daughter up in her arms so she can see better and walks towards her. “Excuse me, miss.” She calls for her when she gets closer.

Lena initially ignores it but when she repeats her call she stops and turns to look. “Yes? How may I help you?” She asks and smiles when she sees the big eyes and a bright smile on the girl in her arms.

“My daughter recognized you and I just wanted to say thank you for all you guys did for us.” Mother tells her. “You are truly heroes in our eyes.” And the girl nods repeatedly.

“Oh…mmm,” Lena was always shy when she was receiving praise so she nervously scratches the back of her head and tries her best to smile, “You’re welcome, I guess. But it’s the guys on the ground you should be thanking, not me.”

“Guys on the ground?” The mother knits her brow and ventures a guess, “Meaning, you’re a pilot?”

“I am, ma’am,” Lena answers proudly, her previous shyness nowhere to be seen.

“Aren’t you a bit short for a pilot?” A voice joins their conversation from behind Lena.

Hearing how they smirked when they said it, she spins on her heels, “Now hold on one-one-one-one…” and wants to retort but her voice fails her on the spot when she sees the red locks, the cute freckles and absolutely the most beautiful eyes she ever saw.

The woman waits for a few moments then starts waving her arm in front of Lena’s face, “Hey. Are you okay? Did your systems freeze or something?” and asks with a concerned voice. 

‘ **Or something. C’mon. Wake up, dummy and introduce yourself.** ’ ‘ _She’s even more beautiful up close._ ’ ‘ **Tell that to her, not me.** ’ “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” Lena says out loud on reflex. ‘ ***Facepalm* Dumbass.** ’

“Thank you, I guess?” the woman knits her brow, not really knowing how to take it. The mother that was talking to Lena, smiles knowingly and leaves them, shushing her daughter along the way and tries to figure out a way how to explain the situation to her.

Realizing her mistake, Lena backtracks in panic, “I-I-I mean, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, you are, but I didn’t…” she rambles. ‘ **Shut. Up.** ’ The letters fill her vision and she obeys. ‘ **Now take a deep breath.** ’ Lena inhales and exhales deeply. ‘ **Good. Now, try it again.** ’

The woman can’t help it but smile at her and decides to wait for her to get ready.

“Haaaa,” Lena sighs then looks at her with upturned eyes, “Can we try this again?”

“Sure,” she nods.

“My name is Lena.” She straightens her back and offers a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Emily.” She responds and shakes her hand with a face wide smile which cause the cute dimples to appear.


	6. Lena takes Emily to a pub

While Lena made her introduction, Amélie’s, who is still in her perch, observing her, coms beep to life, “Widowmaker, status report.” Reyes requests.

“Tracer just completed her primary objective. I believe she is about to move on to secondary.” She responds.

“Do we have a name?” he asks next.

“It’s Emily. Red hair, green eyes, a head taller than Tracer.” Amélie responds and describes Emily’s most obvious features.

“Repeat the name.” she gets in response.

“Echo, Mike, India, Lima, Yankee. Confirm.” She uses the phonetic alphabet because she knows why Strike Commander requested a repeat. Because it sounds awfully like hers.

“Echo, Mike, India, Lima, Yankee. Received.” He confirms then hums as he looks at the data displayed on the screen when he looked for Emily’s information. “Not seeing anything out of the ordinary and it seems our little Lieutenant has quite an eyes.”

“I agree.” She responds but then a third voice joins the conversation.

“Hold on a moment, Emily. I got some nosy twats to sends somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine.” Lena growls into the coms then continues, “I think this is considered a big breach of my privacy, Reaper.”

“How is she in our coms?” Reyes asks Amélie. ‘ **A thank you would be nice.** ’ Letters that answer that question for Lena show up in her vision. ‘ _Thanks._ ’ ‘ **You’re welcome.** ’

“Now will you two drop this,” Lena continues her assault, “or will I have to invite you both to an arse kicking party where I’ll do the kicking and your arses are the volunteers?”

“I believe you are out of line, Tracer.” Reyes tries to calm her down.

“And I believe,” but she is relentless, “that you had no right to do what you just did.”

Knowing that what she is saying is true, Reyes gives, “I apologize. Just wanted to make sure she is not a threat.”

“Accepted.” Lena chirps, then added, “And even if she was, I think I could’ve dealt with her by myself.” ‘ **You bet your ass you could.** ’ The letters add, and Lena chuckles when she reads them.

“Then good luck and I wish you another successful mission, Tracer.” Reyes wishes her and when she hums in confirmation, he addresses Amélie, “Widowmaker, pull out but stay on stand by for transportation.”

“Roger that, Reaper.” She responds and cuts the line. Then starts to pack her nest up.

 

“What was that about?” Emily gets curious when she and Lena make their way towards a nearby pub for a round of pints. 

“Meh,” Lena waves dismissively, “Just my boss got too nosey and I had to clip his wings a bit.”

“Too nosey about what?” she asks and hold the doors of the pub open for Lena to enter first.

“About you. He used our intelligence network to get a background on you.” Lena answers, then laughed, “He can be such a protective big brother sometimes.”

“Call me curious,” Emily knits her brow in thought as the sit down at one of the tables, “but you are quite emotional for an omnic.”

“That’s because I’m not one. I’m a human. With a lot of replaced parts.” Lena explains, “A lot.” Then emphasizes that again.

“Wow,” Emily gets surprised by that then turns sad when she figures that something terrible must’ve happened to Lena that she ended up like that, “If you don’t mind. What happened?”

“Not really, I guess.” Lena shrugs, then added with a flat tone, “Was testing this new plane we got when it sort of blew up.”

“Oh my god! I’m sorry to hear that.” Emily puts her palm over one of Lena’s.

“It’s okay. The ticker,” Lena taps the center of her chest with her finger, “and the upstairs are still mine.” Then her head. “Rest was too busted to save. At least that’s what my boss told me when I woke up yesterday.”

“Just yesterday?” Emily asks, “And now you are here talking to me like nothing happened.”

“Yep,” Lena nods, “Decided I had to at least get your name because I…” and wants to say more, then realizes she said a bit too much.

But Emily notices her hesitation and the expression she is making and smiles, “Because you...? Go on.”

“Aaah, fine.” Lena scratches her head, “Because I saw you before and had a crush on you since. Happy?” She looks her dead in the eyes.

“Awww, that’s so sweet.” Emily coos, “You are cute too, even like this.” She adds and could swear that if Lena could she would be as red as a ripe tomato right now, judging by her fidgeting.

“So you’re not afraid or hate this?” Lena sheepishly asks, gesturing at herself.

“No,” she shakes her head in response, “Why would I? I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to these things.”

“Haaaaa,” Lena exhales deeply and slumps in her seat, “That’s a bloody boulder off my chest.” Then jolts upright when things connect in her mind and looked at Emily with expectant eyes, “Does that mean I have a shot?”

“You have more than a shot, Lena.” Emily winks and smiles.

“YEEEES!!!” she punches the air with both arms and shouts loud enough that everyone in the pub turns to look at her. “Ups.” She giggles and then joins Emily in laughing.


	7. Lena meets Akande

Lena and Emily had a few more rounds but while the night was still young, Lena thought it might not be the best of ideas spending it whole just drinking. “Hey Em,” she calls for her attention after she returns from the restroom and sits down in her seat.

“Yes, Lena?” She raises her sight from her phone she fiddled on while waiting for Lena to return.

“Wanna get out of here and maybe walk around Row’s for a bit?” Lena suggests and finishes her beer.

“Sure,” Emily nods in response and smiles, “Would love too.”

“Great.” Lena quips and gets up, “Let me go pay and you wait for me outside?”

“I can pay for some,” Emily tries to pull out her wallet but,

“Nope. I got it.” Lena gently pushes the hand that is holding the walled down and winks, “You’ll cover the next time.”

“You sure?” Emily asks as she reluctantly puts away her wallet.

“Absolutely.” Lena turns away, “Meet you outside.” and leaves for the bar to pay for what they had. Emily pulls her coat back over herself and leaves the pub. Lena joins her after a minute, holding a plastic bag.

“What’s that?” Emily points it out.

“Well…” Lena scratches the back of her head with her free arm, “Was kinda thinking that after our walk, we could to my place, crash on the couch and watch a movie or two while working through these.” She shakes the bag a bit and the glass bottles clink at each other.

“How many you got there?” Emily asks, guessing correctly that it’s beer.

“Just six,” she answers, “While I know I have free for the rest of the week, I don’t know about you.”

“I think I can safely take a day or two off,” Emily smiles and they start walking down the street when a large man that walks out of a large office building, catches her attention. “That’s one big man.” She comments.

“Huh?” Lena hums, her head not really in the moment. But after Emily gestures at him, she notices him too. “Isn’t that?” she knits her brow, then jumps when she remembers, “That’s Mr. Ogundimu!” She quips and takes off towards him, “Heeey, Mr. Ogundimu!!!” she shouts to get his attention and waves her arm for good measure. She succeeds and he stops before he could enter the car that was waiting for him.

“Good evening,” he can’t quite remember her right away but seeing the Talon emblem on her shoulder, he connects the dots, “Ah, Lt. Oxton. What an interesting coincidence.”

“It is, right?” She looks at him with big eyes and a wide smile. A moment later Emily catches up, catching her breath.

“Hey, Lena, don’t just run off like that. Ah, haaa.” A moment later Emily catches up, catching her breath, “I can’t really run in these shoes.”

“Sorry, love.” She apologizes, “Here, meet Akande Ogundimu, CEO of Ogundimu Cybernetics.”

“And how may you be, fair lady?” Akande gently grabs hold of Emily’s hand and kisses her knuckles.

“Oi,” Lena quips and hugs Emily around her waist, “My girlfriend. You can look, but you can’t touch.” She mocking pouts then winks and smiles.

“Since when?” Emily looks at her.

“Since now.” Lena shoots back, with a big smile, “Got a problem with that?”

“Nope.” She retorts with a smile just as big then turns her attention back to Akande, “And nice to meet you, sir.” She greets him back with a slight nod. As Lena starts to talk about things only they know about, Emily tries to put a few things together. ‘ _She said he was a CEO of a cybernetics company and she seems to know him well. I wonder…_ ’ She decides to just ask him, “Mr. Ogundimu, may I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead, Emily,” He turns his attention to her with a gentle smile.

“Did you perhaps develop the cybernetics that Lena has?” she asks gesturing at her.

“Haha,” he chuckles and nods, “Well deduced. It was indeed my company that provided the artificial parts that were used to replace Lt. Oxton’s.”

“Wow, so it was you.” Lena goes wide-eyed, then grabs his hand and shakes it with vigor, “Thank you so much.”

He nods first, “You are more than welcome. But,” he then shakes his head, “the ones who deserve your gratitude most, are your Strike Commander for practically dragging out of a meeting and being very adamant about providing the absolute top of the line parts and your genius doctor that lead the operations to install them.”

“I am so hugging the life out of them!” Lena chirps and punches the air.

“As that is quite a real possibility with your new strength,” Akande jokes, “I must ask you to be careful.”

“Right,” Lena nods when she remembers who that poor man fared when she wanted to just lightly push away, not to even mention the doors she broke when she wanted to open them, “Promise, I’ll be as gentle as I can.” She nods firmly, then knits her brow, ‘ _He might know something…_ ’ “Can I ask if you installed some kind of AI in here, too?” she taps her head.

He nods, “We did install some software to help you control all of it but they were separated into different parts and can’t interact with each other.” ‘ **They are not separated anymore. ;)** ’ “Why do you ask? Are you experiencing some issues?”

“No,” Lena shakes her head and smiles, “Nothing of the sort. Just curious, is all.” And while Akande did seem convinced, Emily wasn’t but she decided not to talk about it here.

Akande then looks at his wristwatch, “Would you look at the time.” Then back at Lena and Emily, “It sure flies when one enjoys himself in good company. But,” he shakes their hands, “if you ladies would excuse me, I must return to my hotel and get some rest because I have a busy day tomorrow.” And the driver that was waiting next to the car and opens the passenger doors again and Akande walks there. “Have a pleasant evening and Lt. Oxton,” he wishes then looks at Lena, “call me if your experience any troubles with your cybernetics.”

“I will,” Lena nods, “and you too.” He nods and enters the car. The driver closes the doors, walks to the front and enter and starts the car then drives off. Lena and Emily wave in goodbye and resume their walk.

“Hey, Lena?” Emily asks when they turn the corner after walking in silence apart from Lena’s happy humming.

“Yes?” She stops humming to respond to Emily.

“What do you say we skip the walk part and head to your place right away?” She asks.

“Sure,” Lena nods and leads the way to her place. Once at the entrance to her apartment, “Sorry, but it might be a bit messy.” She apologizes, getting a gentle but knowing smile from Emily in response. She enters with Emily right behind her, “Something is off here.” She knits her brow when she looks around her apartment.

“Why? Not how you left it?” Emily smiles, thinking Lena is just pulling her leg.

“Yeah,” Lena nods with a serious expression, “I was in a rush last time I left and didn’t really clean up. Hm…” she taps her chin in thought. “Gimme a sec, love. Here take these,” she offers the bag to Emily, “make yourself comfortable on the couch and pick a movie. I need to make a phone call.” And when Emily takes the bag off her she pulls out her phone and walks to the balcony. She dials when the doors close behind her, “Lt. Oxton.” He answers the phone right away.

“Hey, Strike Commander, I have a question.” She greets him and tells him the purpose of her call.

“Shoot.” His response is short and usual.

“Did someone clean up my place while I was out?” she asks and leans on the fence.

“Yes. I had Major Lacroix take care of it. You were out for half a year, after all.” He answers like it’s not really a big deal.

“I WAS, WHAT?!” Lena jumps when she hears the half a year part.

“Not so loud, Oxton. I was about to go to sleep.” Reyes complains. “And sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. But yes, you were under for 6 months.”

“Bloody ‘ell.” She sighs and collapses on the chair that she is not sure was there when she last left. “No wonder I feel so out of touch.”

“I apologize again, but if that’s all, I’m going to sleep now,” Reyes says and a yawn escapes him.

“No problem Strike Commander, and good night,” Lena responds.

“Good night.” He wishes her back and cuts the line.

Lena returns back inside and sees the Emily made herself comfortable on the couch and even found a blanket to cover her legs so she joins her and pops open a beer then leans on her shoulder. Neither says anything and Emily only hits Play and the movie she picked starts rolling.


	8. Lena's apartment

The movie was about halfway through and both of them were working on their second beer when Emily decides to ask about something that’s been bugging her since that conversation with Akande they had, “Hey Lena,”

“Mmm?” She hums in response but keeps her attention on the movie.

“You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to but,” Emily carefully threads, “is there an AI in your head?”

“Figured this might come up at some point.” Lena chuckles but still keep her eyes on the television and answers, “And the answer is yes. There is something in my nugget, but it says that it can’t take over the control anymore and if I’m honest, whatever it is, it helped me so far so I decided to trust it for now.”

“Helped you? How?” Emily wonders but refocuses on the movie, seeing how the AI in Lena doesn’t seem to bother that much and she has some reason to keep it a secret from others but not her.

“Well, for one, it kicked my ass into gear when I froze when I first saw you,” Lena giggles and nuzzles into Emily's shoulder.

“Mmm,” Emily hums, and enjoys the snuggle then smiles, “You did look quite funny, with your mouth half open and wide eyes. But how does it interact with you?” She gets curious.

“Just some letters appear in my sight and it seems to be able to hear me when I only think of stuff.” Lena answers then stretched across the couch, her head now in Emily’s lap.

“Interesting,” Emily responds then looks down at Lena and raises an eyebrow, “Comfy?”

“In heaven.” Lena smiles back.

“Can it hear what I say too?” Emily wonders as Lena said it can hear her thoughts.

“Probably. _Well, can you?_ ” ‘ **I can see, hear and feel everything you do.** ’ The letters answer, “Make that a yes, it can. And it can also see and feel everything I do.”

“You call it _It_ , but what is it?” Emily continues with her question. 

“No idea,” Lena shrugs, “It’s been along for the ride since I woke up or better said it woke me up.”

“No form or gender.” Emily taps her chin with her finger in thought, “Does it have a personality?” She wonders even though the idea sounds crazy in her head.

“That it definitely does.” Lena laughs, “Quite a cheeky git.” ‘ **And a proud one.** ’ ‘ _Wasn’t a compliment._ ’ ‘ **Don’t care. :P** ’

“So, basically you, but with less of presence?” Emily teases with a smirk. ‘ **Spot on. XD** ’

“Now both of you are gonna take shots at me?” Lena mocking pouts with crossed arms.

“Aw,” Emily tilts her head, “Is someone all offense, no defense?” and keeps teasing.

“I’ll show you offense, alright.” Lena jolts upright, grins, “Com’ere!” and spins around and starts tickling Emily. She squirms and pulls her legs up on the couch to defend herself, but Lena has agility on her side and soon ends on top of her and stops her attack with their faces inches apart, “Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey, beautiful.” Emily returns the greeting with misty eyes and can see what Lena is trying to do but is hesitant so she decides to encourage her, “I’m willing to try it if you do.” And gently runs her arm along Lena’s back, while the other one caresses the nape of her neck.

“I…” Lena’s eyes begin to wander around Emily’s face, avoiding eye contact. “Won’t it feel weird?” She regrets having this artificial body more than ever right now.

“We won’t know until we give it a shot, now will we?” Emily gently smiles and cup her cheek.

“Mmm,” Lena nods in agreement and their eyes meet again. She leans in, closes her eyes and kisses Emily, careful that she doesn’t injure her. It may have lasted only a moment but it felt forever for her. “Well? Did it feel weird?” She asks sheepishly.

“No,” Emily shakes her head, “It felt surprisingly natural. I mean, there is a difference but barely any. I felt the warmth and the gentleness you put into it.”

“Yeah, I felt the same.” Lena nods with a small smile then wants to lean on Emily's shoulder, but jolts upright when she realizes something, “Oh, shit! Am I heavy?” She asks with big eyes, thinking that now that her body is metal she must weight a ton.

“No,” Emily shakes her head, “I didn’t notice any extra weight on me.” ‘ **Your body weights the same as it did before.** ’ The letters explain. 

‘ _And how do you know how much I weighed before?_ ’ ‘ **I checked your records while you were still snoozing.** ’ ‘ _Anything else you snooped up about me?_ ’ ‘ **Nothing worth mentioning right now.** ’ ‘ _Sure._ ’

“You talking to it?” Emily asks when Lena doesn’t say anything for a better part of two minutes and holds perfectly still.

“Yeah, right. Sorry about that.” Lena apologizes and now, secure in the knowledge she won’t crush Emily leans back down and snuggles into her shoulder.

“We should probably come up with a name for it.” Emily hugs her and enjoys her the gentle caress that Lena’s hands provide as they wander along her arms and flank. “Feels weird to call it _It_.”

“Well,” Lena tries to come up with something, “My callsign is Tracer, so maybe something along those lines?”

“Mmm,” Emily hums, “Nah. It’s a mysterious and rogue entity that shouldn’t exist but it does.”

“That’s it.” Lena quips, “Rogue.”

“It fits.” Emily agrees. 

‘ _Well? Do you like it?_ ’ ‘ **Yeah. It’s not bad. Hi Lena, I’m Rogue.** ’ ‘ _Hi Rogue, nice to meet you._ ’ “Rogue likes it too.” Lena informs Emily who smiles but that turns into a yawn halfway through. “Sleepy?” Lena chuckles.

“Bit, yes.” She nods. “Mind if we turn in for the night?”

“Not at all,” Lena responds, gets off her and stands up then help her to her feet. “Bathroom is over there.” She points to a door between her bedroom and the kitchen. “And the bedroom is left of it. Will wait for you there.” She pecks her cheek and grabs the empty bottles and the full ones and leaves for the kitchen while Emily heads towards the bathroom. They meet again in the bedroom with Lena already under the blankets.

“Queen sized bed?” Emily smirks and snuggles in.

“Never felt as good as it does now.” Lena hums and squeezes closer.

“Bet you said that to everyone.” Emily teases.

“Nope.” Lena shakes her head, “’cause I’m not kidding. There were flings and all that, but this feels more real.” 

“I feel the same.” Emily hums then yawns again. “But sleep time now or I’ll be dead on my feet tomorrow.”

“Good night, love.” Lena wishes her.

“Good night sweet.” Emily wishes her back and soon dreams take them both.


	9. Lena's bedroom and Overwatch's conference room.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena helps Emily with a little problem of hers while Gabriel holds a meeting that might decide Lena's future.

“Hah…mmm…aaa.” Emily was moaning from pleasure, lying in bed.

“Hold on…uh…for a…mmm…bit more,” Lena grunted on top of her.

“I’m not…huuu…made…mmmmm…from glass. You can…huh…use more…uh…force.” Emily gets out, her breathing taxed.

“Alright.” Lena noded, then goes at it with more strength, “How is…ghmmm…this?”

“Mmmmmm,” Emily moans loudly when Lena hits a good spot. “Really get…haaa…in there. I’m almost…mmmmm.” She wants to say something but she feels too good so it just gets lost among her moans.

“Aaand…c’mon…hmmm,” Lena is breathing deeply too now as she pushes into Emily, feeling that she is almost done too. “Just a…mmmm…bit more.”

“Hmmm…” Emily screws her eyes shut and bites into the pillow to bear it for a bit longer.

“Ha!” Lena quips and flops lifelessly down on Emily’s back. “That…haaaa…was a bad one, love.”

“It bothered me for ages now,” Emily turns her head as much as she can to look at Lena, “Thank you, sweet.” He breathing is slowly returning to normal. “That was just what I needed.”

“Anytime, babe.” Lena pecks her cheek then stays on top of her. “Angie taught me how to do this right. Apparently, sometimes the best medicine is a good massage or so she said.”

“I’m definitely not complaining,” Emily giggled, “I feel heavenly right now.”

If someone asked what prompted Emily to lay face down in Lena’s bed while Lena works her over with her hands, it would be right after they woke up that morning.

Emily was first to stir but didn’t want to wake Lena by moving too much so she opted for leaning her head on her arms and watching her new girlfriends cute, metallic face as she slept and the blanket moved with her rhythmical breathing. ‘ _Lena Oxton, you are one amazing woman._ ’ She praised her in her mind and gently caressed Lena’s cheek with her fingers.

“Mmm,” Lena stirs after a minute, “That feels good.” And slowly opens her eyes. “Could get used to waking up to that every morning.” 

“Oh?” Emily muses, “And what’s in it for _me_?” She boops Lena’s nose at the end.

“Hmmm,” Lena looks away thoughtfully. Then, coming up with something, she looks back, “Free cuddles?”

Emily thinks for a moment then makes a thumbs up but jerks her hand, gesturing to Lena to offer more.

“Well, there will lots of kisses and hugs too,” Lena adds, shrugging.

“And?” Emily almost accepted but decided to try to tease her a bit.

But Lena wouldn’t have it and just went all in, “Heck, you can have the entire me. How’s that?”

“Deal.” Emily smiles and wraps her arms around Lena and closes in for a hug. “And you can have entire me too.”

“Deal.” Lena chuckles and nuzzles into Emily. “Love you, Emily.”

“Love you too, Lena.” And they stay like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company and warmth. But as they were both awake now, it’s time for breakfast and Emily’s stomach made its case by grumbling loud enough for both of them to hear it.

“Somebody is hungry.” Lena laughed and let go then rolls away and sit up on her side of the bed.

“Wanna help me get the breakfast ready?” Emily asks as she does the same on her side and stands up. “Bloody...gh,” she grunts as she twists her torso to stretch. Her back and shoulders popping loudly.

“Blimey, Em.” Lena quips when she heard it. “That’s even louder than Reinhardt’s and he is in his sixties.” 

“That desk at work is killing me,” Emily explains. “And no matter how much I exercise or stretch, I always wake up stiff as a board.”

“Let’s get breakfast done first then we come back here and I’ll try something to help with that,” Lena suggests and gets dressed along with Emily and they get something to eat and you know the rest.

 

Back in Talon HQ plans were being discussed which caused Strike Commander Reyes to bolt upright and smash his palm against the desk in the conference room, “NO! Not a fucking chance,” he thundered. “I am not telling her to go and take such a risk again. You make sure it’s safe to the last bolt because only then is she even hearing about this. Am. I. Clear?” He scanned his subordinates one by one.

“Strike Commander,” Winston calls for his attention and fixes his glasses, “The plane is as ready as it will ever be.”

“You said that about the last one too.” He snaps at him, “And look what happened. She probably survived that on her willpower alone.”

“No one could have predicted that it will explode.” Torbjorn joins the conversation, “We did everything to make sure it was safe and ready for flight.”

“But it wasn’t enough, was it?” Reyes growls at him with narrowed eyes. 

“Strike Commander, our contractors are riding our asses as is.” Ana says, “If we don’t deliver, they will pull their resources.”

“Then I’ll pull their guts out.” He hisses through his teeth and everyone in that room is perfectly aware that he will do it. Next, he takes a deep breath and sits back down, “Okay. Let’s do this then. You got until the end of this week to test everything as many times possible. Use any resource possible to ensure that everything works as it should and then we will ask her if she is willing to take it into the air.” He tells them with a flat tone. “No, wait. I will personally ask her. Rest of you are strictly forbidden to even beep about this whole thing to her. Is that understood?” There are nods from all. “Dismissed.” He tells them and they file out of the room. He leans back and looks at the ceiling, “She already gave so much. How dare we ask for more? I hope that wherever she currently is, that she is having fun.” A knock on the door brings him back from his melancholic state. “Enter.”

“Major Lacroix, reporting.” She salutes as she enters.

“At ease, Major.” He nods and gestures towards a chair to his right. “Have a seat.”

She sits down and waits in silence.

“Well, don’t keep me waiting.” He laughs, “How is Lt. Oxton and her mission?”

“She completed both primary and secondary objective successfully, sir,” Amélie reports with military precision.

“Relax, Amélie,” he asks her, “I’m asking as a friend too.”

“In that case, Gabriel,” she nods and smiles, “When I circled over London for the last time before heading back here, I spotted her and Emily walking into the apartment building where Lena’s apartment is.”

“That’s our girl.” Gabriel smashes his palm against the desk again, only this time with joy and not anger. “You think she sealed the deal?” He wriggles his eyebrows when he looks at Amélie again.

“No doubt in my mind,” Amélie says with a smug expression. Then, “Even I wouldn’t…” wants to say something but catches herself in time and coughs with her cheeks warming up.

“Amélie…” Gabriel raises an eyebrow and smirks, “Will I have to keep you two apart in future missions?”

“It won’t present a problem.” Amélie fires back with a flat tone.

“I’m joking,” Gabriel laughs. “And besides,” he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, “everyone here knows that you have feelings for her.”

“Quoi?” she goes wide-eyed.

“Lena is probably the only one that doesn’t,” Gabriel chuckles, “but I bet that even she suspects it at this point.”

“She knows,” Amélie sighs and slumps in her chair. “I blurted it out while we were flying there.”

Gabriel slumps forward on to the desk, laughing, “Oh, this is gold.” He turns his head to look at Amélie, “What did you say?”

“It was in the heat of the moment and she mentioned wrapping and looked at my legs,” Amélie her face with her hands.

“I like where this is going,” Gabriel grins, trying to stop laughing until she finishes.

“She looked so cute when I called her out on it and I just blurted out that if we were just Amélie and Lena, I wouldn’t really mind.” Amélie wants to bury herself in a hole from embarrassment but her arms and the desk will do for now.

“And you looked smug as fuck saying it, didn’t you?” Gabriel knows her too well.

“Mhm,” she squeaks.

Gabriel nearly tips over the chair when he shoots into the backrest, holding his flanks and laughs. “You really are something else, Amélie.” He puts a comforting arm on her shoulder when he calms down. “Hey,” he calls for her attention and when she lifts her head to look at him, “you never know, maybe Emily will be willing to share.”

“Thank, Gabriel,” She nods and lifts herself upright in her seat, “I know you are probably just teasing, but it helps.” She smiles.

“Eh, it’s what friends are for.” He shrugs then stands up, “Let go grab a bite. I’m feeling a bit hungry and you probably flew back here without eating anything first too.”

“I could eat, yes.” She nods, gets up and they leave the room and head for the cafeteria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was just a massage your dirty-minded perverts. :P


	10. T-shirt

If someone ever asked her when the happiest time of her life, Lena would shot, “Right now, right here.” like from a cannon. And that’s because she just finished her shower and as she walked towards the living room a smell of food being cooked hits her nose. When she turns her head to look at the source, she freezes in the spot. Her arm on her head holding the towel she was using to finish wiping herself stays there. Her jaw slowly opens but then gets stuck like that. The sight that her eyes are seeing is just too much. Emily woke up while she was in the shower and now she is humming a cheery tune, swaying her hips and stirs the eggs in the frying pan. But that’s not the problem Lena is having. Sure she looks cute all the time, but the reason that caused Lena’s brain to cease all function is what Emily is wearing. A t-shirt. That’s all. Just a single plain old t-shirt that is a bit stretched. She keeps fixing it as it slides off her shoulders. Now on one side, then on the other. Exposing her adorable freckled shoulders. Lena’s eyes travel lower and stop at the hem of the shirt. It’s putting up a good fight to cover her arse. Her sexy arse. But it’s failing miserably. And Emily swaying her hips is making its job damn near impossible. And as if to add insult to injury, the rising sun reaches a perfect location to illuminate Emily from a perfect angle, creating an illusion that she is glowing. Lena somehow manages to close her mouth and swallows hard. “What did I do to deserve you?” she says. Her brain only slowly recovering.

Emily hears her and turns around, “Morning, babe.” She smiles adorably and fixes some of her locks behind her ear and leans forward a bit.

Lena could swear she just heard thunder crack across the air and the bolt hit her dead on. “You,” she slowly takes the first step towards Emily looking at the floor. “Got.” Another step. Still looking down. “No one.” Step three. Head slowly raises. “To blame for this.” Step four. She is looking Emily straight in her eyes. “But yourself!” She leaps towards her and grabs her around her waist, guiding her legs around her own then spins around, shuts off the fire under the frying pan, then lowers Emily on the kitchen table and kisses her hungrily. That shirt was on Emily for about two seconds after that and they found out that the kitchen table is more than sturdy enough.

Somehow they ended on the couch in the living room with a blanket over them. “Should I buy a few more of these?” Emily teases, pointing at the torn remains of the t-shirt on the floor she was wearing before Lena jumped her.

“Shut it, you tease,” Lena bumps her shoulder. “I get fresh out of the shower only to see an angel humming in my kitchen being all sexy while she cooks.”

“I think an angel would be more modest with their attire.” Emily giggles, running her hand over Lena’s head.

“You’re right,” she agrees with her. “You’re a bloody succubus, sent here to torture me.”

“Oh, no,” Emily fakes surprise, “My true identity revealed. What should I do now?”

“For starters,” Lena nuzzles in her shoulder, “You can keep doing that with your hand.”

“I can do that,” she smiles and keeps caressing the back of Lena’s head, her nape and a bit of her shoulder then repeat it.

“I’ll figure something else for the future.” Lena hums and melts under the caress. But the moment doesn’t last because her phone starts ringing. “I swear,” she grunts and lifts herself off Emily, “I’ll either throw this thing into a wall or learn to shut it off.” She picks it up from the table and looks at the screen, “Strike Commander? What does he want now?” She presses the Answer icon, “Hello?”

“Hello, Lena,” he greets her back. “How are you? Just checking as a friend.”

“Your timing is shit,” Lena first grunts back, “but Emily just found a way to force me to forgive you for that. Otherwise…Shit, Em. Slow down.”

“Do I even want to know?” Gabriel asks.

“Prrrobably not. I’ll just say that she is…mmmmm…giving me the Australian version of Major Lacroix’s kiss.” Lena finds a witty way to describe what Emily is doing.

It takes Gabriel a few seconds to put it together, “Oh. Khm…Sorry, I interrupted.” He clears his throat and ends the call. 

But a text soon follows and even though Lena is barely able to think straight anymore she opens it and reads it. “Mmmmm…” she moans nearing the edge over which she is sure Emily will push her right over. She doesn’t last. 

And Emily climbs up from beneath the blanket with a big grin. “You started it.”

“And you just finished it with flying marks.” Lena pecks her cheek and cuddles into her. “What do you think about going to see the base I’m stationed in tomorrow?”

“Can I?” Emily caresses her back.

“Strike Commander just invited you, personally.” Lena points at her phone. “But now that I think about it, what is he up to?” she taps her chin in thought.

“What do you mean?”

“He never does anything like this unless he needs something. In most cases, he just orders you to do it,” Lena explains, “but on rare occasions when he needs something big and knows that simply ordering it would leave a bitter taste, he tries to butter you up first. So, what is he planning?”

“No use wrecking your brain about it right now, is it?” Emily cuts that train of thought short and gets up. 

“You’re right. But about the invitation, wanna go?” Lena stretches across the whole couch now that Emily made room.

“Sure, why not.” She shrugs in response and heads to the bathroom. As soon as the doors close Lena looks towards the kitchen where the eggs in the pan are long since got cold and need to be redone from scratch, but as if some tiny devil on her shoulder whispered it into her ear, she decided to return the t-shirt favor to Emily. That breakfast never stood a chance of happening and the next meal they had was lunch and even that one would probably fell through if they didn’t decide to go outside to eat. Evening came too soon, next morning even sooner and they were in flight to Gibraltar with drowsy eyes and tried to catch up on their sleep.


	11. Slipstream is a go.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Lena and Emily arrive at Gibraltar, Gabriel greets them. Taking the opportunity Lena immediately asks him what is his real reason behind this. She can't really say she expected what he tells her, but couldn't be happier to do it. And Emily meets Winston for the first time.

When Lena and Emily land at Gibraltar and start walking down the lowered back ramp of the Orca, they can see that the big man himself came to greet them. In his full attire. A peaked cap, coat, the whole shebang. “Good to have you back Lt. Oxton,”

She straightens her back and salutes, “Good to be back, sir.”

He nods then turns to Emily, “and welcome Emily, to Watchpoint Gibraltar.” And offers a handshake.

“Thank you for inviting me, sir.” Emily nods and shakes his hand.

“Call me Gabriel, and Lena,” he turns back to her, “you can relax. This is nothing official and I think Emily will feel more relaxed if you act as you normally do.”

“Oh, thank god.” Lena exhales, relaxing on the spot. “I thought I’ll have to keep pulling the LT all the time.”

“I can still order you to,” Gabriel jokes, “if you prefer that.”

“No, no, no,” Lena answers so fast that it sounds like a motorboat. “Buuut,” she drags and locks him with her sight, “What is this all about?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He shrugs.

“Don’t give me that bull,” Lena presses, “there’s no way in hell you would invite Emily to come along if you didn’t need something from me.”

“I am deeply wounded.” Gabriel acts being shot.

“Mhm,” but Lena is not buying it.

“Fine,” he relents, “But let’s talk in my office.” And gestures towards the doors that lead deeper inside the Watchpoint. After a short walk, they reach his office and he takes his cap off and disrobes his coat. “Have a seat.” He points to two chairs that are in front of his desk and sits down in his.

“Hit me,” Lena asks him to tell her the real reason.

“Alright,” he nods and picks a file up and hands it to her, “But first let me tell you that you have every right to decline this. You are not under any orders to do this and no one will think any less of you if you decide not to do it. Understood?” He fixes her with a serious look.

“Mmm,” she hums and grabs the file, “Sure. I guess.” Her eyes go wide as soon as she opens the file and sees the picture that is attached to the first page with a paper clip and quickly skims over the briefing. She slowly raises her sight to look at Gabriel, emotionless expression on her face, “Is this for real?” and points at the file with her finger.

“As real as it gets.” He nods. “The plane that blew up on you was the prototype for this.”

“And she is airworthy?” Lena asks next.

“I have everyone and everything I can put on it to check that it is as safe as possible.” Gabriel answers.

“Can she fly?” Lena repeats her question.

“It can.” He nods.

“I’ve only skimmed it,” she closes the file but unclips the picture to keep it and lowers it on the desk, “so I might’ve missed something. But what is this teleportation matrix?”

Before Gabriel can answer, there’s a knock on the door. “Enter.”

And as if he knew that Lena will wonder what the matrix does, Winston lumbers in. Emily reflexively leans into Lena and wraps her arms around hers. “Sweet,” she whispers, her voice trembling a bit, “That’s a gorilla. In a lab coat. Wearing glasses.”

Both Gabriel and Lena laugh at her reaction, “Yes, love. He is a gorilla. But he is also a genius scientist and a very good friend.” Lena explains.

“I apologize for startling you, miss.” Winston offers a handshake. “But no one told me that Strike Commander will have guests that aren’t informed about me. My name is Winston.”

“E-Emily.” She stutters and sheepishly shakes his hand.

He nods then looks at Gabriel, “Strike Commander, I just finished my final check on the matrix and it’s as safe as its going to get.”

He nods then gestures at Lena, “Then your timing couldn’t be better. Can you explain to Lena what’s it all about?”

“Of course.” Winston nods and looks at Lena, “Well, I could go in length to explain all the details, but to keep it as short as possible.” He clears his throat then continues, “What the matrix will make possible is, upon activation, teleport the whole plane from one location to another.”

“Teleport?” Lena knits her brow, “Like in those old movies, _Beam me up, Scotty_?”

Winston is not familiar with those movies but Gabriel is, “In a way, yes. What we are trying to achieve here, is to create a plane that will be able to deploy immediately anywhere in the world and provide air support and counter any enemy in the air in a matter of seconds without wasting fuel for the trip there.”

“She is certainly one of a kind.” Lena looks at the picture in her hand. 

Emily looks at it too, “Don’t know all that much about planes, but this one is quite beautiful to look at.”

“Right?” Lena beams her a smile, “She is absolutely gorgeous.” 

“I’m sure the designers will be happy to hear that,” Gabriel smiles, “but could I have your answer?”

“About what?” Lena looks at him. “Flying this bird?” She points at the picture.

“Yes.”

“Of course, I will.” Lena smiles widely and her eyes shine with excitement.

“Look, this will be dangerous. No matter how much we test it, there are still things that can go wrong.” He warns her. 

But Lena decided to pilot it as soon as she saw it. “If that scared me off piloting something new,” she gestures at her whole body, “I wouldn’t have ended like this, would I?”

“Are you absolutely sure?” He holds his palms together on the desk, “I can’t emphasize enough, how dangerous this will be. And you got yourself such a lovely girlfriend and barely started to put your life back together.”

“Strike Commander Reyes.” Lena gets serious and stands up, straightens her back and salutes. “Lt. Lena Oxton, ready to test fly the experimental jet codenamed Slipstream.”

“As you were, Lena.” Gabriel nods and she sits back down. He looks at Winston next, “Well, you heard her. Get it ready for takeoff as soon as you can.”

“Right away, Strike Commander.” Winston nods and smiles. “Should be ready in an hour.” He adds and leaves the office with a spring in his step. He is as excited as Lena is to see his newest invention in action.

“Well, Em,” Lena looks at her, “looks like you will be able to see history in the making.” Then looks at Gabriel, “If that’s okay?”

“I don’t see any problem with her watching from the control tower.” He shoots Emily a wink, “I’ll make sure she gets the best seat in the house.”

“Awesome,” Lena claps and jumps to her feet. “I’ll go get geared up and leave Emily with you.”

“I’ll make sure not a hair gets harmed on her.” Gabriel smiles and nods.

“Then you couldn’t be in safer hands, love.” Lena leans down and kisses Emily.

“Good luck, Lena.” Emily wishes her when they separate. She can’t even imagine how dangerous this will be but if she wanted safe she would have dated a dentist. Not a decorated combat ace who is also a test pilot. And she looks so happy and excited ever since she opened that file so she can only be happy for and with her.

“Thanks, Emily,” Lena responds cheerfully and dashes out of the office jumping with each step as if she has springs in her shoes.

“Shall we be on our way as well?” Gabriel stands up after the doors close behind Lena and dons his cap and the coat.

“I guess,” Emily shrugs, not really sure what to do, now that Lena left her alone with someone she just met.

“No need to feel uneasy,” Gabriel smile and offer an arm lock, “I will make sure we are the best hosts possible.”

Not left with much of a choice she decides to take him up on his offer and they walk out of the office like that and make their way towards the control tower.


	12. Slipstream v1.0 test flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel escorts Emily to the Air Control tower and shows her around while they wait for the Slipstream and Lena to be ready for the test flight.

Gabriel introduces Emily to the officers and technicians manning the Air Control Tower and secures a pair of binoculars for her. He escorts her between different stations and must admit that he didn’t expect her to be as familiar as she is with the technical stuff of things. She even offers a few tips to how they could improve on various things and make things easier on operators. 

“Strike Commander,” Captain Amari calls for his attention, “They are bringing the Slipstream out.” She informs him when she sees the jet being towed on to the start of the runway. 

“Alright,” he nods in response then offers Emily his chair in the center of the tower and stands next to her, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

She can see various trucks and technicians in different colored jumpsuit surrounding the plane. Seeing her curious look, Gabriel explains, “The ones in yellow are aircraft directors. They make sure the runway is clear and signal the pilot when everything is ready and also command the ones wearing blue as they are in charge of towing the plane to its position. Might look like they are not doing much right now as there is just one jet but try imagining them pulling a whole squadron of jet out of the hangars and getting them airborne as soon as possible. Then you have those in purple. Those guys make sure that the planes are fueled up. A single spark can spell disaster so they need to be very precise at what they do. White ones are the safety officers and they make sure everything is clear around the plane before they signal the leader of the yellow that it’s safe to take off. The ones missing today are red and brown. Reds take care of ammo and armament while browns make sure the plane is in perfect condition and are the ones in charge of its maintenance. But Slipstream is a prototype so it’s not armed and its designers and engineers that took part in its assembly are looking over it today.”

Emily listened and nodded, she was quite interested in what goes into getting a war jet airborne. Then she spots a figure with spiky brown hair, donned in a special air suit that was specifically designed to fly Slipstream and she is carrying a bulky helmet in her arm as she came out from a hangar and is talking to someone while they walk towards the jet. “There she is.” She quips and Gabriel next to her chuckles.

“The best of the best, since day one.” He comments.

Lena climbs into the cockpit and put her helmet on. She connects everything to the plane and her voice comes over the speakers in the tower. “Air control, this is Tracer. Ready to start the test.”

Emily can see that almost everyone but a few white wearing officers that stand to the side of the plane and one wearing yellow, who stands in front of it leave. “Start the engines, Tracer,” Gabriel commands in return.

“Copy that, Air control. Starting engines now.” Lena responds and her canopy closer then engines roar to life. “I’m seeing all green here, Air Control. Requesting permission to proceed.” She reports.

“Same here, Tracer. Permission granted.” Gabriel responds and now even those few last men run away from the plane. Emily can hear the engine getting stronger, but wonders why the plane is still not moving. Gabriel answers as if could read her mind, “She always does that. Cranks up the power before releasing the brakes. Maintenance hates her for it because she goes through brakes at twice the pace others do but she always buys them the first round after she returns from her mission so they never keep it up.”

“Air Control, Tracer taking off.” She quips with a cheerful voice that is a far cry from the professional one she used a minute ago. The nose of the plane dips a little and it shoots down the runway at a blistering speed. “Go, girl, go!!!” her delighted voice comes over the speaker and everyone in the room chuckles as they are used to her talking to her planes by now. Not really needing the entire length of the runway but she makes use of it anyway and just before the end zone she pulls sharply on the controls. Aircraft going from horizontal to nearly vertical flight in a second. She pulls the lever for the gears and her grunting as she fights the G-force is heard in the tower.

Emily not used to it, asks Gabriel with a worried voice, “Hey, is she okay?!”

“She is just fine.” He nods, smiling. “She didn’t need to pull up like that right away but she does something every time.”

“Ghhhhh,” Lena continues to grunt as she jolts the controls to the right and adds a spin to her vertical flight. She is gaining altitude like never before and it makes her heart sing and even while fighting the additional G-force she is smiling widely. After she had her fill of that, she levels the plane and begins a gentle turn over the Watchpoint. “Air Control, Tracer. This girl is awesome!!! I pushed her harder than any before and she still has power to spare. And she maneuvers like a charm.”

“Glad to hear that, Tracer. Proceed with your flight over the Atlantic.” Gabriel commands. “I’m handing you over to Winston for the Matrix test.”

“Copy that Air Control. Turning over the Atlantic.” She responds then call for Winston, “Winston, Tracer. Do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Tracer. Are you ready for the Matrix test?” he acknowledges and asks.

“Ready and willing. Let’s do this, big guy.” She responds cheerfully.

“Alright. Level your flight, then proceed with the Matrix start-up sequence.”

She gently maneuvers the plane so it’s in a perfectly leveled flight, “Flight leveled. Starting the Matrix.” She flips a few switches the reroute some of the power to the Matrix and it starts to glow. “Slight decrees in other systems function for a moment but everything returned to normal.” She reports.

“It was expected as the Matrix drains quite a lot of power when it starts,” Winston explains. “Will be adjusted once you bring it back.”

“Start-up finished. Ready to engage the Matrix.” Lena reports after a minute.

“Copy that. Input the coordinates we agreed upon. Adjust at your own discretion.”

“Coordinates set and adjusted. Green across the board.”

“Fire it up.”

“Engaging the Matrix in 3,2,…” and she presses the button on the controls. The plane is engulfed in blue light and it disappears from all radars.

The Air Control saw the burst of blue light where she was last detected. And now all eyes are on the satellite feedback. Seconds tick away. Still, no signal even though she should reappear a moment later. “Tracer, this is Air Control. Come in.” Gabriel calls over the coms. The satellite dish on the roof bouncing his signal over the entire globe from satellites in Space so even if she reappeared on the other side of it she should pick it up. “Tracer, this is Air Control. Come in,” he repeats his call. He waits for a moment for a possible response then slams his fist at the counter in front of him, startling Emily, and roar over the coms and the room. “FIND HER!!! NOW!!!”

 

Lena reappeared just like Winston told her she would. “Air Control, this is Tracer. It worked!” but gets only static in return. “Air Control, Tracer. Do you copy?” She tries again and, “Air Control, Tracer. Do you copy?” again but her gut is already telling her that something is not right here. “C’mon guys. This is not funny. Air Control, come in.” She shuts down the Matrix and slows down then starts circling around the spot she reappeared. She wants to try again but, ‘ **Lena, it’s no use.** ’ ‘ _What do you mean by that?_ ’ ‘ **Check your radar.** ’ She does and can’t find anything wrong with it, ‘ _Nothing looks wrong here._ ’ ‘ **Look closer.** ’ She focuses on the smallest of details and scans other gauges too, ‘ _This can’t be right._ ’ ‘ **I’m afraid it is. We are not in Kansas anymore.** ’ ‘ _Really? That joke right now?!_ ’ ‘ **It fits.** ’ ‘ _Got that right. Where the hell am I_?’ ‘ **If I was to guess, a whole different world.** ’ ‘ _What?_ ’ ‘ **Let me see if I can find something.** ’ There's a short break then the letters reappear. ‘ **Here. This is this world's history. I picked the articles about Overwatch and current events involving its ex-agents.** ’ ‘ _What do you mean by…? Oh._ ’ She reads the article about the bombing in Zürich HQ and Petras Act. ‘ _Let’s head there._ ’ She decides. ‘ **Head where?** ’ ‘ _Zürich. I want to see it._ ’ ‘ **Pray we find a runway or something because we only have enough fuel to last us until there.** ’ ‘ _I just got a fucked by the Universe for the second time. It owes me._ ’ Lena turns the plane towards her chosen destination and cranks up the throttle to the max.


End file.
